U.S. (UConn) women rout Brazil in Olympics basketball exhibition

Associated PressTeam USA forward Seimone Augustus, center, struggles with the ball between Brazilian defenders in an exhibition game Monday.

By SEAN DEVENEY
WASHINGTON — For the Team USA men’s basketball squad, there is a certain seat-of-the-pants aspect to their operation, with the roster having gone through a rash of injuries and with practices starting just last week in Las Vegas. For the women? That kind of time would be a luxury.

Despite just two days of practice, the American women hit the floor here at the Verizon Center on Monday night for their first exhibition game, against Brazil in the first half of a doubleheader with the men’s teams. And despite the lack of practice time, the U.S. showed why it is the most dominant program running in any sport, building a 22-point lead on Brazil in the second quarter and running away with a 99-67 victory. Guard Lindsay Whalen, who replaced Sue Bird (death in the family) in the starting lineup, had 21 points, five rebounds and five assists.

Because professional women’s leagues run through the summer, the logistics of bringing a team together just ahead of the Olympics are difficult. The Americans will go from Washington to Manchester, England, where they will get three more practice days before they play another exhibition, against England, on July 18 under coach Geno Auriemma. Brazil, by contrast, had been practicing together for two months.

It helps, though, that the U.S team includes six players from the University of Connecticut, where Auriemma also is the coach. The players are also familiar with each other from their time together in past tournaments, as well as the WNBA. There is a level of familiarity with the system that puts the Americans slightly ahead of where they might otherwise be.

“I think our chemistry also helps us from playing outside of here," forward Candace Parker said. “Because we realize when we’re playing outside of this team, we have to do a lot more. So, when we come here, we’re able to play extremely hard for short spurts and then come out and know that we’re never going to get tired and there won’t be a letdown. Our subs will come in and we’re going to get better. We’re going to come in waves. In a way it makes our games better. It allows us to do more things and be capable of doing more things.”

Parker is right - the Americans simply have the top talent in the world. They are returning four of their top six scorers (Sylvia Fowles, Dina Taurasi, Candace Parker and Seimone Augustus) from the 2008 Olympic team, and though they’ll miss mainstays like Tina Thompson and Lisa Leslie, they still boast the world’s deepest roster. They will go to London carrying a 33-game winning streak in Olympic play, and steep expectations for a gold-medal win. If they meet those expectations, it will be the fifth straight gold for the Americans, extending their record among women’s traditional team sports. Not only did the U.S. win the gold in Beijing, they did so with an average margin of victory of 37.6 points.

And they accomplished that with a similar lack of pre-tournament preparation. This sort of thing has become old hat for Team USA’s women. “I don’t think it really matters,” Tina Charles said. “I think that during these past three months, playing in the WNBA, individuals get better and the team gets better. It’s easier to pick up on things. It’s easy to feed off of other people and their energy. I think we’ll be fine.”